The Pedagogical Throwdown
Swen Nater

What’s a “Throwdown?” It’s a head-to-head competition between two entities to see who the best is. The Food Network has a show, “Throwdown, with Bobby Flay.” Here’s the way it works.

Delilah Winder is a local legend in Philadelphia. Her Mac ‘n’ Cheese was voted the nation’s best on the Oprah Winfrey show. She has been dubbed America’s Undisputed Mac ‘n’ Cheese Queen for years. She is about to release a cookbook and The Food Network is throwing her a cookbook release party. But she doesn’t know Bobby Flay will crash it to challenge her to a Mac ‘n’ Cheese Throwdown right there on the spot. Will Bobby’s five-cheese version match up to Delilah’s award-winning seven-cheese wonder?

Because the audience is there expecting to eat, the food has to be prepared in a hurry. So, when Bobby shows up, the incumbent is usually already ready to cook. Bobby and his crew get going and look like Keystone Cops, hurriedly getting set up. In less than one hour, both sides have prepared world-class dishes and the audience is in culinary heaven.   

When you watch the show (I know you’re going to now), you’ll see both parties peaking over to the other side to see what they’re competing against. That often means, unplanned, last-minute adjustments. I saw a chili maker change from Jalapeño to Chipotle because Bobby was using them. I’ve seen Bobby make many changes also. In any case, the point is, for that one hour, there is urgency and the amount of achievement and production per minute is astounding. There is no wasted time. That one moment, when one of them relaxes or loses concentration, could be the difference between winning and losing. 

I believe Coach Wooden conducted practice as if he were in a throwdown. In a real sense, he was. On Monday, he and the coach he was opposing that Friday evening were in competition to see who could prepare his team the best and win. And I truly believe (without seeing the other team practice) the difference between Coach and that other coach was, the other coach had moments when he lost concentration while Coach Wooden didn’t. It could have been not catching a mistake, spending too long correcting a mistake, spending too much time talking, or transitions between drills were too long. But Coach kept right on working, milking every second of a practice for more progress.

Too bad there are no Throwdowns between classrooms in our public schools. Too bad they are not set up for it. But if somebody figured out how to do it—and did it right so that nothing but positive comes out of it—can you imagine the urgency, industriousness, economy, and productivity? For example, can you imagine the skills two 8th grade Algebra teachers would quickly acquire when they agreed to go head-to-head and the winner was determined by an end-of-semester test? I can see one of them, secretly asking students from the other class, what’s going on and then stealing the idea. Imagine the crazy pace at which those students would be learning? I can see the teachers spending their weekends studying for the next week. I can see students holding their hands up in class and saying, “Hold it, Teacher! Slow down just a little. What was that last thing you said?” and the teacher saying, “You’ve got to keep up.”

A Pedagogical Throwdown. It would work, right? But I’m just a dreamer. Don’t mind me.

To Coach Wooden, Everyone Was an Equal
Swen Nater

My boss’s, boss’s, boss walked by me in the hallway. I said “Hello” but he didn’t answer. Deep in thought? I guess. However, that would have been our CEO and not me, I’m pretty sure he would have turned into Mr. Friendly.

From experience, I have concluded, it is human nature to be nicer to those we deem valuable to us, or those we think are our equals or higher, and not so much to those who are not. This is not limited to the workplace. It happens in classrooms, sports teams, clubs, and churches.  Generally speaking, people respond to others according to the respect they have for them. 

I’m not proposing The President of the United States spend as much time interacting with a citizen as he does with one of his cabinet members. But, I do think he should do the basics, just so that citizen knows Obama considers him or her an equal.

What are the basics?
1. A verbal greeting
2. A non-rushed friendly conversation
3. An appreciative departure. 

Here’s an example of when I witnessed a little boy (with his father behind him) approaching Coach Wooden after one of our games. The conversation went like this.

“Mr. Wooden. Mr. Wooden.”

“Yes, son.”

“I think you’re the greatest coach and I love watching the games. I think UCLA is the best.”

“Well, thank you son but you know, you have to have good players to win.”

“Yeah. I guess. But you’re good and my father says you’re the best.”

“Do you play basketball?”

“Yup, but I’m not very good.”

“You practice and someday you may be a Bruin.”

“OK. I’ll practice. Will you sign the game program for me?”

“Of course. What’s your name?”

“Alan”

“There you go, Alan. Are you and your father coming to the next game?”

“We sure are.”

“Then I’ll see you then and please stop by. Thanks for saying hello.”

This type of humanity, humility, and consideration was common practice for Coach Wooden. When on the road, he acknowledged the janitor as heartily and genuinely as he did the opposing coach. When on campus, he conversed with students as often as college professors.

Do you remember the Coke commercial with Mean Joe Greene and the little boy? Mean Joe was limping on crutches off the football field, down the tunnel, and toward the locker room when the little boy asked him if he needed help or if he wanted his Coke. At first, Joe declined but then when the boy offered again he said, “Thanks,” took the Coke, and began to drink. The boy, turning and walking away, said, “See you around.” Mean Joe said, “Hey kid. Catch,” and tossed his uniform top to him. The boy caught it and said, “Wow! Thanks Mean Joe.” Joe smiled.

That’s kind of what I’m talking about.

Next posting: A Pedagogical Throwdown

The Boy, The Man, and The Nine Iron
Swen Nater

“Look around and see if you find anything,” the woman softly told her 12 year old son as they entered the dimmed and musty-smelling second-hand store. They split up looking for treasure—she to the racks of clothes near the front, and he to the back, where the toys, tools, and gadgets were. Every Monday, when the new load was in, they made the trip and arrived five minutes before opening. Each time, she meticulously perused the shelves and racks for shorts, pants, shirts, socks, and even shoes, looking for things that were almost new, things that didn’t look second hand. Sometimes she found nothing. Sometimes she struck gold.

“Find anything, Hon?” she pleasantly asked, approaching the boy who was holding a golf club with both hands, looking at her with wide-open hopeful eyes and a slight smile.

“I found a golf club, Mom. Can I have it, please?” said the boy. He extended his arm, hopefully offering her a shiny nine iron that was in pretty good shape. It only had one nick on the face where someone had hit a rock or something.  

She tucked the pair of pants and blouse she found under her left arm and took the club with both hands, holding it horizontally and turning it once or twice to see if it was in good shape. “You don’t play golf, dear,” she said.

“But I want to,” he said. They walked to the front, she made the deal, and they walked out of the second-hand store, the woman with a near-new pair of pants for his brother and a colorful blouse for his sister, and the son with a nine iron.

It was summer and there was no school. The very next day, he walked four miles over a hill to a driving range someone told him about once. He had thirty cents, just enough for a small bucket of balls. At first, he sat on a bench and watched the other men swinging at the ball. Some weren’t very good but the man in the next stall was contacting the ball well every time. After a while, he stepped up on the Astroturf platform and began trying himself. Once in a while, he connected. It was fun.

But, it didn’t take long to finish the small bucket. There were only about thirty balls in it. He took his nine iron and walked out of the driving range back door, ready for his long journey home.

“Hey son,” someone said. He looked around and saw a man—the same man who was hitting balls next to him—standing at the back of his car with the trunk open. He was about to put his clubs away.

“Yes sir?” the boy said.

“Come on over here.” The boy slowly walked to the man and stood close enough to be able to see in his trunk. “You like to hit golf balls, don’t you?”

“Yes sir, I do. But I can’t hit as well as you do.”

“That doesn’t matter. All you have to do is practice. But, you also need good equipment.” Out of his trunk, he lifted complete set of brand-new shiny irons, still in the original box. Looking at the boys nine iron, he asked, “Is that the only club you have?”

The boy nodded his head. “Yes. My mom bought it for me at the second-hand store yesterday.”

“Well, if I give you these, would you promise to practice?”

“Boy, would I?” said the boy while still staring at the glittering new irons. The man gently handed the box of clubs down to the boy who received them with care and then stared at them a while, in unbelief. He thanked the man and left for home. At first he walked but, when he was out of sight, he began to skip and then sprint. 

That little boy was me. I never saw that man again, but I think about him often. To this day if a child needs something, I try to find a way to make it happen. Do you know why? Because, when I give, I know that child will have the same incredible feeling I had when that man gave me the irons. 

Next Posting: Coach Wooden—Everyone He Met Was An Equal

Note To Self
Swen Nater

Coach Wooden was addicted to one thing—the obsession to keep improving things until they were as close to perfect as possible. In the off season, he performed exhaustive topical research and learned from experts. However, many of his ideas came to him during the practice session. For that reason he always had pen and paper handy during the workouts.  It is very safe to say, Coach Wooden would not have experienced the amount of success he did, had he not been a note taker.

His workout plan was typed on 3 X 5 cards. Several times a practice, I saw him jotting things down on the backs of those cards. When I became a teacher myself, he told me, they were “notes to self” that pertained to how to improve things for the next practice. He said, had he not done that, he would have forgotten most of those ideas. 

When I get home from work, I always have a piece of paper in my left pocket. That is where, during the day, I write things down that I need to remember when I get home. You know; pay a bill, write a posting, balance the checkbook, make a dinner reservation, and the like. If I didn’t do that, I would never remember most of them. In the same way, Coach Wooden took notes all practice long to remind him of what to do the next day when he and his assistants planned that day’s practice session. He told me, most of what he wrote had to do with what drills he needed to do for certain players the next day. But some were regarding the drills themselves. “Do Rebound drill longer.” “Create a variety for the shooting drill.” “Need more time on shooting.” “Find a way to get Swen more playing time.” (Wish that were true.)

While in the middle of something, have you ever thought of something really cool and important, didn’t write it down, and later, pulled your hair, trying to remember it? Been there; done that. Well, there’s good news. If you carry around a pen and piece of paper, like Coach did, you won’t ever get that terrible feeling again.

I’m sure you’re already sold on the idea (not because I said it but because Coach did it) but, just in case you’re on the fence, here are three benefits of writing Notes to Self. . 

1. Improve Job Performance. (Keeps you on task.)
2. Saves Time. (Helps not having to reinvent the wheel.)
3. Facilitates Improvement. (Saves innovative ideas.)

So tomorrow morning, when you’re about to leave the house and you go through your checklist, “wallet, watch, keys, cellphone, and briefcase,” don’t forget to add, “pen and paper.” 

Be more fearful of the opponent that is improving himself than the one trying to beat you.

SWENSDAY STUFF

If Coach Wooden Made Salad Dressing
Swen Nater

Wendy and I enjoy making recipes together. This summer, we were on a mission to make the best barbecue sauce. We gathered countless recipes, tried several, combined some of them into a new recipe, and tweaked it to where it was so good, when I conducted a BBQ Sauce Throwdown here at work, my fellow employees selected it over Stubb’s and Sweet Baby Ray’s.

Our next undertaking was Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. Wendy came up with a recipe we think is hard to beat. It’s a perfect blend of vinegar, sweetness, spices, and kick. Now we’re on a determined quest to make the very best Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette.

Every off-season from 1948 to 1975, Coach Wooden conducted a deep scientific study of the various components of basketball and teaching by: Collecting data, Analyzing it, Making a Decision, and Trying those findings out. As Wendy and I embark on our exciting “Quest for the Best” Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette, I can’t help but wonder—if Coach were to do it, would he use the same method he did when he studied the game? I believe he would.

Collecting Data
First, he would learn which experts made the best dressing and send them questionnaires. Then, he would drive to Albertsons and look at the ingredients on every Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette salad dressing and copiously write them down. He would curiously peruse every on-line recipe and every page of every culinary book and magazine (i.e. Better Homes, bon appétit, Cook’s, Cooking Light, Food Network, and Good Housekeeping), hunting for recipes and secrets. He would make appointments and visit Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Julia Childs (he’d find a way), Mario Batali, and Martha Stewart (optional), picking their brains for, not only the ingredients, but for culinary tips.  

Analyzing Data
After exhaustive weeks of gathering every possible bit of information, he would lay it all out to be sorted and analyzed. He would first look for commonalities and would find all contain vinegar, honey and mustard (duh), oil, salt, and pepper. He would also notice, most recipes instruct you to slowly drizzle the oil in last, while whisking or blending the rest of the ingredients on low speed. Then, he would notice, good recipes include four varieties of vinegar: Red wine, White wine, Rice, and White, and he would see there was not an overwhelming preference for any particular one. 

He would look for “outliers,” some interesting out-of-the-box ingredient intended to kick the recipe up a notch. Three outliers he would find would be dried basil, hot sauce, and nutmeg. One cook suggested flax seed oil while 99.9% of cooks recommended olive oil.

Make a Decision
When Coach finished analyzing his data, he would probably put on his blue and gold apron, get out his food processor, and make many recipes. For example, in a recipe that called for white wine vinegar, he would try red wine, white, or rice vinegar. After trying every possible combination, including the outliers, he would finally come up with a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette he thought was near-perfect.

Try It Out
Last, he would invite the UCLA guys over for dinner and serve us salad with his J.W.’s Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette. It would be to die for and well-qualified to be served at Denny’s….I mean….Ruth’s Chris.

But to my knowledge, Coach didn’t cook. Nellie was much better at that. But, after finding the perfect recipes for teaching rebounding, offense, defense, motivation, maximum production in practice, conditioning, teamwork, and fundamentals, the flavorful presentations he put out on the court year after year, weren’t too bad, don’t you agree?

SWENSDAY STUFF

The Mystery of the Greatness of Wooden and Einstein
Swen Nater

What was it that resulted in UCLA’s 10 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships and, even more amazing, 38 consecutive playoff victories? How did Coach Wooden do it? The greatness of John Wooden will forever be a mystery, at least in part. Those that teach and lead will continue to dig to see what the secrets were. Even now, once in awhile, someone will come up with another ingredient. And, we know, there are many ingredients. I will present one in this article.

The greatness of Albert Einstein will also remain a mystery. But it shouldn’t. In two sentences, he gave us the blueprint, the same type of method Coach Wooden used and the same design anyone can use to become great at anything worthwhile.

I do not consider myself to have any special talent. Curiosity, obsession, and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have led me to my ideas.
Albert Einstein

When we study what Einstein wrote, we will arrive at a roadmap to greatness. At the same time, we will learn what prevents people from achieving greatness. Einstein’s goal was in proving relativity, for example, that speed could influence relative time. Coach Wooden’s goal was finding the best ways to facilitate quick, permanent, and practical learning. Einstein achieved greatness in his field. Coach Wooden achieved greatness as a teacher.

Einstein’s formula has four steps: Curiosity, Obsession, Dogged-Endurance, and Self-Criticism. He said, his greatness had nothing to do with talent. Coach Wooden’s formula is the same. Greatness is ignited by a snooping-interest in something. It is accelerated by a fascinated-fixation on finding the answers. It is fully-fueled by a patient fortitude to see the quest to the end. It is kept on track with contempt for smug-complacency with any progress or praise. In other words, Einstein and Wooden never even slowed down on the road to greatness.

Once I was obsessed with becoming a great violinist and practiced for hours a day. Then, something stopped me. At Jefferson Jr. High, when I took up violin, I was not very good. I practiced and practiced; so much so, during summerschool orchestra class, Mr. Sandberg gave me the solo part in the end of summer concert. I was so proud. You would have thought that success would have been a catalyst for accelerated improvement. 

Coming from middle school, I was placed far down the pecking order in the Wilson High School orchestra. Somehow, I wasn’t able to sustain the motivation I had in middle school. Wilson High School, arguably, had one of the finest orchestras in the nation. Consequently, in my junior year, I quit.

Wendy and I went to a trumpet player’s concert recently. There, a very talented and accomplished guest performer, a violinist, played the instrument so well, it sang its way into my heartstrings. At that moment, I lamented the lack of dogged endurance I had as a youth. Had I kept going, perhaps I could have played like that.

What stopped me? What stops anyone from becoming great? Why didn’t Einstein or Wooden quit? The answer is simple and is found in the hard grout that secures the cornerstones of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success: Industriousness and Enthusiasm.

I didn’t love violin enough to do the necessary work that would take me to greatness. There are many who are curious. There are many that are, for a time, obsessed. But, somewhere down the road, when things get really tough and more love and hard work are required to keep moving, they do the math and decide, it’s not worth it. And that’s why there are so few Einsteins and Woodens. 

What is your theory of relativity or mastery of teaching? Is it astronomy, writing, poetry, victory over addiction, or art? Greatness is not a mystery. Keep the fire of curiosity and obsession going, and commit to as much hard work as is it takes to get there. Greatness didn’t come to Einstein or Wooden; they needed to find it through sustained and passionate effort. Remember, Einstein said, curiosity, obsession, and dogged-endurance, combined with self-criticism, led him to his ideas.  Don’t ever give up and you will join Albert and John someday.

Consider the postage stamp; its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. Josh Billings

Let the Games Begin
The Value of Competition to Learning
Swen Nater

Competition Can Accelerate Learning
Under Coach Wooden, all practices were divided into five sections: Fundamentals, 3-on-2 Conditioning, Breakdown of offense or defense, Scrimmage, Special situations. The last four were mainly game-like competition. The first, Fundamentals, were taught in isolation but often turned into competitive situations as well. One example is The Shooting Competition. Once the basics of the jump shot were taught, Coach divided us into three groups and we competed. First team to 15 wins.  Hold that thought.

I would guess that in at least 70% of UCLA practices under Coach Wooden we were competing against each other in some way. Don’t get me wrong; he drilled in the basics every day. But he didn’t wait for mastery. He put us into the heat of competition to test our skills. Are you a classroom teacher? Are you a drill team or cheerleading coach? Are you a sport coach? In almost any teaching venue, competition, if properly managed, can accelerate learning. Here are some reasons why. Competition…

1. Exposes what fundamentals are weak and need more work.
2. Allows student to take self-inventory.
3. Displays how students react to adversity or success.
4. Adds pressure and pressure speeds up thinking and reacting.
5. Creates teamwork.
6. Prepares students for exams, to be your best when your best is needed.
7. Helps students learn from failure and come back stronger and wiser.
8. Keeps students on task longer.
9. Drills in the fundamentals at high speed, increasing repetitions and shortening the feedback loop (Alan Lambert).
10. Simulates life. Life is competitive (Earl Salter).
11. Is fun. With good facilitation, more learning takes place when students are having a good time as well.

Competition Must Be Controlled to Be Effective
Competitive games, if carefully devised, can be productive. If not, they can have no value or even become counterproductive. Going back to The Shooting Competition, in order to make the game drill in the fundamentals of passing, shooting, and following the shot, Coach set rules.
1. Shooter must rebound his own shot (nobody else can touch the ball).
2. Shoot fifteen feet from the basket on this spot.

That’s it. Had he not set the rules, a non-shooter would have waited under the basket, got the rebound or miss, and fired it back to the next shooter. That would speed things up. And, we would have cheated by moving in closer to the basket.

Rules are important in order to help competition get the desired results. Here are some other guidelines that will help.
1. All fundamentals needed in the competition must be developed to a satisfactory degree before putting them to the test. Otherwise, it will be sloppy.
2. Competition cannot embarrass or discourage the less-talented and less-skilled.
3. If possible, the movements in the game should resemble the real game.

Let the Games Begin
I told you about Mr. Calvetti before. He’s the Victorville, CA, elementary school teacher that was teacher of the year more times than Pee Chee has folders. He created a competition for multiplication tables. After teaching value, I witnessed an entire 5th-grade class virtually memorize their 8s in one hour.

Competition need not be against people; it can be against a clock or record that needs to be broken. Can you come up with a competitive game to accelerate spelling? How about diagramming sentences, memorizing the presidents or the US states? Can you come up with a game to help cheerleaders memorize the routine faster? Let the games begin.

Competition in Perspective
Two final thoughts: Competition must not be overused, and Competition is not an end-all.

Coach Wooden used some form of competition for most of practice. But for classroom teaching and depending on the class, that may be too much. It’s the teacher’s call. Don Dinero, author of Training Within Industry, The Foundation of Lean, says,

I think competition is like stress; we need some to have us perform at our optimum, but too much will have the opposite effect.

Competition is not an end-all. As Franklin D. Roosevelt reminds us, it’s just one step toward the ultimate—working well with others.

Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.

To Snub or Not to Snub
Swen Nater

Have you ever been snubbed? Not sure? Oh, you have, believe me. Need a definition? OK. Actually a snub is nothing. It’s something that happens to you when nothing happens to you. By definition,

A snub is a deliberate and premeditated non-response by an eligible recipient, to the dispenser of a clear and audible in-person greeting.

Let’s say you’re walking down the hall at work or school and you see someone that also works there. About ten feet from passing each other, your eyes meet and you say, “Hello.” He ignores you, looks away, and passes without a sound or acknowledgment. You’ve officially been “snubbed.”

Snubbing is rude. The snubber makes you feel like you don’t belong on this earth and you have no value. I get snubbed all the time. At my height, I know they see me so there’s no excuse. They just choose not to respond after I’ve made the effort to be friendly. That’s rude. But I’ve discovered, some apparent snubs that I thought were snubs, were not really snubs at all, according to the official definition. That has kept my blood pressure down. Below are examples of snubs and no snubs.

The Nod Snub
You say, “Hello” and the other person makes eye contact and nods. Not a snub. It’s a partial snub, but not a pure, unadulterated, full snub. The reason is, there was a degree of response, albeit weak and bare minimum. 

The Couple Snub
You say hello to one or both of a pair of people that pass you. Once, I considered this to be a snub but some friends pointed out, when two people are engaged in conversation, they have a right to ignore the dispenser of a greeting because their conversation takes precedence. In fact, they accused me of being rude by interrupting. Wow!

The Minor Snub
When you greet a young person under the age of 21 who doesn’t know you, and he or she quickly looks the other way, you have no right to claim a snub. See definition; children are not “eligible” recipients. Children are taught not to talk to strangers.

The iPod Snub
This is when someone doesn’t respond because he or she has tuned the world out by listening to “music.” It is debatable whether this is an authentic snub. According to the definition, it is not because, supposedly, the recipient didn’t hear the greeting. However, on a larger scale, it could be considered a snub in the sense that the person, by hooking up to the device, has decided to snub everyone, including the Pope if he passed by. 

The Texting Snub
Once in a while I pass someone who is texting while walking. These are people that negotiate their way like bumper cars. They run into walls, hug the walls to get them to where they want to go, and make those coming in the other direction swerve to avoid them. It’s best to leave them alone and not greet at all because it’s a no-win. If they respond, they’re ticked off because you interrupted their typing. If they don’t, it’s a snub. Just let them pass and listen as they scrape the walls with their shoulders and run into doors.  

E-mail Snub
Some people actually employ and activate the option to have the computer tell them when the intended recipient of an e-mail has opened it. And, if that e-mail has not been opened in due time, they will call the person and ask why they snubbed. Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not a snub. A snub can only be a snub if it’s in person. See definition. The Facebook Snub also falls under this judgment.

Paper Towel Snub
At work, we have a paper towel dispenser that is motion activated. The other day, I swished my hand over the sensor and nothing happened, although there was plenty of paper. I came back to my cube and told my fellow workers, “I just got snubbed by a paper towel dispenser.” You wouldn’t’ believe it. They immediately jumped on my case and told me, “It’s impossible to get snubbed by any machine because machines cannot premeditate a response.” I stood corrected, with wet hands of course.

Oh, yeah! I just remembered. It’s possible that I snubbed Coach Wooden one time. My first day at UCLA, walking by Pauley Pavilion, Coach and two superstars, Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe were approaching. He was in the middle. Now he’s almost six feet and they were both about 6’8” so I only noticed the two superstars who I had never met. I greeted them by name, ignoring Coach, and walked by. By definition, I did not snub Coach Wooden but, I’m thinking, he might have not seen it that way. I did sit the bench for two years.

The are few things more powerful than the “hello.” It can turn an enemy into a friend and clouds to sunshine. 

SWENSDAY STUFF

That’s Really Neat
Swen Nater

It is surprising how many players do not know how to wear their equipment properly and how careless they will become about their appearance if the coach does not assume the proper responsibility in this regard.
1. The wrinkles must be smoothed out of their sock feet
2. The shoes must be laced snugly but not tightly
3. The shirt tails must be tucked in
4. The supporter must be kept smooth
5. The hair and fingernails must be kept short

The above is straight out of Coach Wooden’s book, Practical Modern Basketball. It was written in 1966. In the seventies, he added, “Sideburns no lower than the tops of the earlobes.” for obvious reasons.

When I attended UCLA, during practice, I remember numerous times when a coach would tell a player, “Tuck your shirt in.” They also checked our hair and fingernails. Our socks were to be pulled up not scrunched down. When we entered the practice court, they looked at our shoes to make sure they were laced properly. Prior to the first practice, Coach Wooden had all of our feet measured and we received shoes that were usually one-half size smaller than our street shoes. He didn’t want the foot to slide forward when we came to sudden stops. Regarding the athletic supporter, he just took our word for it that it was properly put on.

Coach was anal about these things, in part because of safety and maximizing performance. For example, hair that was too long would get in your eyes and shoes that were laced too tightly would eventually cause injury. But he also had another reason; he wanted us to be neat. He believed, if you are not neat in practice, you won’t be during games. 

But Coach went a step further. He believed neatness outside of practice and games carried over to the court. In other words, he believed we should be neat all the time. When on the road, we left the locker rooms clean. When travelling, we wore blue blazers, white shirts, and ties. And, we were always clean shaven. (Not a problem for me because I had no facial hair at the time.)

Every team, club, company, and classroom has a culture and that culture is always established and created by the leader. That leader develops the culture by example, by setting of rules, and, more importantly, making sure those rules are followed. UCLA Basketball’s culture was one of neatness. Coach Wooden set the example by always being well-dressed, clean, and groomed. He helped us clean locker rooms. As if we were his own children, he disciplined us to do the same. He set the rules and believe me; he followed through.

The perfect backdoor play for the score, the timely offensive rebound, the unexpected steal, the blocked shot that set up the fast break, the rapid passing that left the opponents dizzy as they watched the ball go through the net once again. Our play was near-perfect and, yes, neat. It all started with the socks, hair, fingernails, coat, white shirt, and tie. Neatness was just the way we did everything. Now, isn’t that neat?

9-11
Swen Nater

On September 11, 2001, the ungodly and evil devils of terror thrust a deliberate right cross, meant to send an arrogant message to our United States of America, that the precious liberty our great people have paid dearly or, is the frail and temporary fruit of a weak system of government doomed to disintegrate, die, and be filed away in the annals of world history as an idealistic wish that rose and fell and could not withstand the test of time.

Today, on September 11, 2011, ten years later, I boarded an aircraft that took me from Orange County, California, to Seattle, Washington. The Southern California airport was saturated with sober and uniformed security. On the way to security, I passed a dozen of them, always in pairs, and they looked me straight in the eyes. The security checkpoint was much slower than usual as workers were more careful and suspicious than ever. As I passed through the arched metal detector (still too low for my height), the alarm sounded. I didn’t have any metal on me; I was the victim of a random manual check and search.

But I didn’t mind this time. Normally I would say under my breath, “Why me? Why don’t they pick some of those other, more suspicious-looking passengers?” This time, I felt a great peace. I felt safe.

Since September 11, 2001, things have changed in America. We all know and feel that. The author of liberty, The United States of America, that ten years ago lay blissfully and secure between two great oceans, was handed a serious surprise blow and now has its watchful gloves up to keep from being hit with a fatal uppercut or left hook.

Are the terrorists right? Were the founders of this government wrong when they believed freedom and liberty would be the steel that reinforced a concrete constitutional foundation that would stand forever? Did the right cross we took in the face ten years ago weaken us? Are we feeble and faint at the knees, open to be hit with the final blow? Can another country bring this great country down? Abraham Lincoln did not think so.
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we be author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
If these United States are to be no more, it will not come by terrorism. They may land a punch but cannot knock us out. The only means of defeat possible can take root when we begin to lack conditioning, skill, and teamwork and we fail to maintain the industriousness and enthusiasm that made us the great ambassador of liberty we are and should be.

With that in mind, September 11, 2001 was not a right cross that weakened us and left us frail or faint at the knees. On the contrary, their efforts have gravely backfired for they have awakened these United States to counter in the next round with a new strength and renewed resolve in who we are and that for all time, liberty is the way of the future for all people and that tyranny, slavery, bigotry, and the suppression of any race or any gender is no match for it and is doomed instead.